Safety anchoring-block



J. E. WHILT.

SAFETY ANCHORING BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19. 1920.

1,369,910,, 4- Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

attorney,

JOHN E. WHIL'I, OF EUREKA, MONTANA.

SAFETY ANCHORING-BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar.- '1, 1921.

Application filed August 19, 1920. Serial No. 404,612.

To all whom it may co'ncem:

Be it known that 1, JOHN E. WHILT, a citizen of the United States,residin at Eureka, in the county of Lincoln and tate of Montana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Anchoring-Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an anchor block for securelyanchoring railway cars on an inclined track while they are being loadedand is designed especially for use with logging railroads, but it can,of course, be employed wherever it is necessary or desirable to securelyblock or anchor a railway car securely in place. It is well known thatthe ordinary hand or air brakes cannot be relied upon to hold a car forany length of time, and accidents have frequently occurred through thefailure of the brakes. The element of danger due to this cause isentirely removed by the use of my device.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a sideelevatlon showm my device in position, and Fig. 2 is an en elevation ofthe same.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is a railroad car wheel resting upon therail 2, which in turn is secured to the usual tie 3. My improved blockis represented as a whole by the numeral 4: and consists of a block ofwood or other material 5 having one side curved to fit the periphery ofthe car wheel, the base being straight and resting on the rail, theother two sides can have any suitable angular relation with each otherand with the other two sides, but a block having two right angles, oneobtuse and one acute angle has a substantial and pleasing appearance,and such shape has, therefore, been shown. The curved side of the blockis preferably covered with an iron or steel member 6, bent to the propershape and secured to the block by bolts or screws. The memher 6 isprovided with a wedge shaped portion 7 extending under the wheel and ofsufficient length to permit the wheel to rest thereon. This portion 7 isfurthermore provided with downwardly projecting flanges 8 on each sideof the rail, the purpose of which is to prevent lateral movement of theblock. To prevent the block from sliding along the rail I providedownwardly projecting members on each side. These members are preferablymade of an angle iron 9 and a flat bar 10, secured to the block by boltsor rivets 11 and securely riveted to each other as shown at 12, thusforming a rigid triangle in which the angle iron serves as thecompression member and the bar as a tension member. The triangle formedby the bars 9 and 10 and the block 5 projects below the base of theblock to such a distance that when the block is in position on the railthe apex extends below the base of the rail and into the ground on theupper side of the tie, or the apex can be placed directlyupon the tie inwhich case the weight of the car will force the members into the wood;in either case the block is positively prevented from sliding along therail. In order to remove the block in case it should stick to the tie, Iprovide it with a cut away portion 13 so that a bar can be readilyinserted and the block pried loose.

It will be noticed that after the car wheel has been rolled onto theblock the latter will be positively held in place and cannot be removeduntil the car is moved uphill sufficiently to free the block from theweight of the car; this insures that the block cannot be removed untilthe engine is in place and sufiicient force has been exerted to move thecar and its load against the action of gravity.

The block can readily be made in any blacksmith shop without the aid ofany special machinery, and will be comparatively light and easilyhandled. Although I have shown the block as made of wood and suitablyreinforced with iron, it can, if desired, be made entirely of iron orsteel.

Having now described my device, what I claim is my invention ordiscovery is:

1. A safety anchoring block, for the purpose specified, comprislng ablock having one side straight and adapted to rest on the upper face ofa railroad rail, the side-adjacent thereto curved, whereby it willconform to the outer surface of a car wheel; means on said blockcomprising downwardly extending flanges for engaging each side of a railto prevent lateral displacement and downwardly projecting anchoringmeans on each side of the block for engaging with i the roadconstruction and positivel preventing longitudinal movement 0 saidblock.

2. In combination with a car wheel a railroad rail and-a cross tie ofmeans for positively holding the said car wheel in osition on an inclinecomprising a bloc of substantially trapezoidal shape, the base of whichrests on the rail and one side of which engages with the car wheel, saidblock oeing provided with means to prevent lateral movement with respectto the rail and means for engaging with the road construction forpreventing longitudinal movement thereof.

3. A safety anchoring block for the purpose specified, comprising asubstantially trapezoidal shaped block means near one end thereofextending downwardly on each sidethereof for preventing lateraldisplacement when said block is placed on a railroad "rail, anchoringmeans comprising downwardly extending members rigidly secured to saidblock, for engaging with a cross tie and preventing the block fromsliding longitudinally when placed on a rail.

4. A safety anchoring ance with claim No. 3 in which one side is curvedin the are of a circle and has a tangential portion extendin beyond thepoint where a radius perpen icular to the base cuts said are.

5. A safety anchoring block in accordance with claim No. 3 in which theanchoring means comprise an angle iron compression member and a bar irontension member, whifh together with the block form a trian e.

signature.

JOHN E. WHILT.

block in accordn testimony whereof I have aflixed my

